1. Conflict and Tension Revision
Date
Conflict and Tension Revision
Topic areas:
The causes of the First World War
The First World War: Stalemate
Ending the war

2. Topic 1: The causes of the war
MAIN – militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism
Alliances – Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy).
Kaiser’s aims
Weltpolitik (world power), expanding the empire and expanding the navy – rivalry with Britain.
Arms and naval race
Germany had the biggest army and Britain had the biggest navy.
Naval race – Britain build the Dreadnought and then Germany started to build them. By 1914, Britain had 29 and Germany had 17.

3. Topic 2: The pre-war crises
1905 First Moroccan Crisis
The Kaiser had a desire to expand the German empire and wanted to take over Morocco. This angered France, who had already begun to take it over. A conference was called leading to Britain backing France and Germany having to back down.
1908 Bosnian Crisis
Austria-Hungary invaded Bosnia, angering Serbia who appealed to Russia for help. Neither Russia nor Serbia wee prepared to risk a war with Germany so they backed down.
1911 Second Moroccan (Agadir) Crisis
The French tried to take over Morocco again so the German’s sent a gunboat called the Panther. The British feared that Germany was trying to set up a naval base in Agadir and called a conference. Germany was forced to back down again and was humiliated.

4. Topic 3: The outbreak of war
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
He was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and was shot dead by a Serbian in revenge for the A-H takeover of Bosnia.
The event sparked an international crisis leading to the outbreak of the First World War.
Schlieffen Plan
Germany wanted to avoid a war on two fronts.
It invaded France by going through neutral Belgium. The German’s planned to defeat France within 6 weeks and then transfer their troops to the Eastern Front to fight Russia.
Britain got involved because Germany invaded neutral Belgium. This went against the Treaty of London.

5. Topic 4: The Western Front
Trench warfare
By November 1914, there was deadlock and fighting had reached a stalemate. Millions of men dug into lines of trenches. This became known as the Western Front.
Conditions in the trenches
Over the top – men were sent over the top to fight.
The front line – soldiers didn’t spend all their time charging into enemy trenches. Most of the work of a soldier was more routine e.g. repairing trenches.
A soldier’s life
Adventure, discipline, leisure time, humour, comradeship, patriotism and respect.

6. Topic 5: Technology of war
Artillery – bombardments by large heavy guns fired from distance. It was a key weapon of the Great War.
Machine guns – helped maintain the stalemate and were a devastatingly effective defensive weapon.
Poison gas – first used in April 1915 and led to panic when soldier’s struggled to breathe.
Tanks – used for the first time at the Battle of the Somme and provided cover for the infantry. They were unreliable though.
Aircraft – planes developed in the four years of war. In April 1915, planes were fitted with machine guns and played a part in slowing down the German advance in 1918.

7. Topic 6: The Battles of Verdun and Passchendaele
The Battle of Verdun, 1916
The German’s attempted to capture strategic French forts around Verdun.
Falkenhayn came up with the strategy of ATTRITION – wearing down the enemy.
In 6 months, 700,000 men died. The French army was at breaking point leading to the British launching the assault on the Somme early.
The Battle of Passchendaele, 1917
This battle demonstrates how new technology could become hopelessly outmanoeuvred by weather conditions.
The British infantry advance left to soldiers getting bogged down in the mud. This led to heavy casualties.

8. Topic 7: The Battle of the Somme
Led by Field Marshal Haig. July 1916 to November 1916.
Following a week long artillery bombardment of German trenches, British troops advanced. On the first day 57,000 British soldiers were killed.
Over 1.25 million men were killed.
There was debate over the tactics used: Some might argue the tactics were a failure because the bombardment warned the Germans of the attack, giving them time to prepare. Others might say these were the right tactics and it was only the failure of the shells to explode that led to the plan not working.

9. Topic 8: Gallipoli
Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, persuaded the British government to attack the Dardanelles Strait, therefore attacking Turkey.
In March 1915, warships began their assault, attacking Gallipoli. The British, French and ANZAC troops underestimated the enemy.
When troops went ashore, they found conditions to be terrible due to heat and disease spreading. Another attempt was made to end the deadlock but this had limited success.
With the harsh reality of winter setting in and no prospect of success, the decision was taken to withdraw.

10. Topic 9: The war at sea British Blockade Jutland U-boats
The British navy’s main activity was to mount a blockade on German ports to stop essential supplies of food and war materials reaching Germany. By 1918, many Germans were starving and there was a mutiny in the German navy.
Jutland
This was the only major sea battle of the war. The British lost 14 ships and 6,000 sailors. The Germans lost 13 ships and 2,500 sailors.
After Jutland, the Germans never came to fight at sea again and remained trapped in port.
U-boats
Underwater boats used by the Germans to fight back against the British. When the Germans sank the Lusitania, this helped bring the USA into the war.

11. Topic 10: The US entry to the war and Russian exit
Why did the US join the war?
German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare – attacking and destroying American ships
The sinking of the Lusitania – a passenger liner carrying 128 Americans.
Zimmerman telegram – sent from Germany to Mexico promising them US land if they supported them in a war against the USA. This was intercepted by the British.
Why did Russia exit the war?
There was a revolution in Russia and Lenin declared that it was not going to fight and opened negotiations leading to peace with Germany in March 1918.
The terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk were harsh – loss of territory.

12. Topic 11: The Spring Offensive and Hundred Days campaign
The German Spring Offensive
March 1918 – Ludendorff launched the great gamble to win the war.
Infantry attacked were followed with lightly equipped ‘storm troops’.
The Offensive initially went well but the German army lost 400,000 men and ran out of supplies.
The Hundred Days campaign
Between May and August the Germans made no further progress and run out of time and resources.
The Allied, supported by manpower and equipment from the USA and counter-attacked.
By late September, the Allies reached the Hindenburg Line and the Germans were in full retreat.

13. Topic 12: The end of the war
The abdication of the Kaiser
It was not easy for the Kaiser to agree to abdicate. However, by November 1918 this was seen as the only option to restore order in Germany.
On 9 November 1918 Germany became a republic.
The armistice
After the abdication of the Kaiser, negotiations about a ceasefire continued.
The German government expressed a willingness to proceed on the basis of Wilson’s Fourteen Points.
An armistice was signed at 5am on 11 November, coming into effect at 11am.
Discussions started in January 1919 at Paris about a detailed peace settlement, leading to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.